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Deb Marsh sends along some absolutely stunning photos of a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron that she observed for a period late last July. It was working the more or less pristine waters of Big Darby Creek here in Central Ohio. It would be interesting to know where this bird came from. A home-grown boy, would be my guess. There are plenty of tough to access places along the Big and Little Darby's some 100+ miles that could harbor nesting night-herons, and no one would be the wiser.

Very artistic, this look. Young night-herons are a bit tougher to separate than are the adults. Note that this yellow-crowned has quite the Jimmy Durante-style schnozz, though - a big, thick, all-dark bill. Yellow-crowneds also have smaller and finer speckling on the back, and overall are a longer, thinner, lankier bird.

This shot's great. Deb caught the bird in the act of wolfing down a large crayfish, probably the rather invasive Rusty Crayfish, Orconectes rusticus. Wonder what one of those feels like sliding down the ole gullet...

Thank you for the great photos, Deb!

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PHOTO WORKSHOPS 2018!!

In partnership with expert photographer Debbie DiCarlo (learn about her work HERE), I will be co-leading a series of one-day and multi-day photo workshops in 2018, all in Ohio, with the exception of fabulous excursions to Pennsylvania and Costa Rica. All skill levels are welcome - especially new to intermediate photographers. In addition to learning photographic techniques for various facets of natural history - birds, insects, other animals, plants, landscapes, night skies, and more - we'll learn LOTS about natural history. Each and every trip will offer many chances to see and photograph flora and fauna that most people don't get to see - or even know exists! The more one knows about nature, the better a nature photographer they'll become! Both Debbie and I love to work with people to help improve photography skills, and would welcome you to attend any of our workshops.

For an overview of all workshops, with thorough descriptions, CLICK HERE. Also, listed below is each DiCarlo/McCormac workshop, with a hotlink to a complete description and registration information:

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About Me

I am a lifelong Ohioan who has made a study of natural history since the age of eight or so - longer than I can remember! A fascination with birds has grown into an amazement with all of nature, and an insatiable curiosity to learn more. One of my major ambitions is to get more people interested in nature. The more of us who care, the more likely that our natural world will survive.

About the photos, and permission to use

All photographs (unless otherwise noted) on these web pages are the exclusive property of Jim McCormac, and are protected under United States and International copyright laws. The photographs may not be copied, reproduced, stored, distributed or manipulated without written permission. All rights are reserved.

All photographs are available for purchase. If interested in an image(s), please feel free to contact me at: jimmccormac35 AT gmail.com

If you contact me requesting free photos, the reply may be long in coming :-)

I've been taking photographs for a few decades, but never became fully engaged in photography until 2003. That's when I got my first digital camera. Since then, photography has become a passion and a steadily growing addiction. If you delve back far enough into this blog, you will see photos that were made with a variety of Panasonic point & shoot bridge cameras. Then came a Canon Rebel DSLR, followed by a Nikon D7000. I've since returned to Canon, and use their gear exclusively. My camera bodies are a Canon 5DS-R, 5D IV, and 7D II - all are awesome cameras, each with their primary use.

The lens bag includes a number of Canon lenses that collectively cover most bases, ranging from macro to super telephotos. I do lots of macro, and my typical flash gear is the Canon Twin-Lite setup, or sometimes a diffused Canon 600 speedlite. If the gear needs three-legged stabilization, it is mounted on either an Induro tripod, attached to an Induro Gimbal head, or a Gitzo 3542 tripod and Wimberly WH-200 head. Finally, I've got a GoPro Hero, which is fully waterproof and can be used for underwater work. Sometimes I even use the camera or video feature on my iPhone 7 smartphone - it's amazing how good phone cameras have become.